The match he referred to was the clash between the Roosters and
Panthers, which drew 10,078 fans.

This sparked a conversation about Sydney crowds. In order to
address this properly, it’s best to use facts.

So far, up until the end of round 15, the average Sydney crowd
in 2018 is already above that of 2017, which is made even more
remarkable when you consider that the 2017 figure includes the
41,287 that attended the semi-final and the 79,722 in the grand
final, matches which are still to come in 2018.

Crowds in Sydney peaked in 2011 before going down every year
since until 2018, where they have been considerably better, up by
almost 400 on last year already.

Furthermore, just three of the nine Sydney venues in use in 2018
thus far have seen their averages fall compared to last year: ANZ
Stadium is averaging 614 less this year, however if you remove last
year’s semi final and grand final, that 2018 deficit becomes an
immense 5,209 improvement.

The other two grounds that have gone backwards in averages in
2018 are Brookvale Oval, down an average of 1,705.7 per game and
Belmore which is 4,033.5 worse off this year.

The big improvers in 2018 are Kogarah, up a whopping 6,006.7,
Penrith which is averaging 3,196.9 better per game than in 2017,
Campbelltown which is 1,201.8 better, Leichhardt which is up
1,003.8, while Allianz is 517.4 better off and Shark Park is up
172.6.

Penrith’s crowd average has improved every year since 2014,
Kogarah has improved immensely from its 2016 average of 9,949 to
16779.7 in 2018 and Leichhardt Oval is up from its 2014 average of
10,469.4 to 13,127 in 2018 of the consistently big improvers.
Campbelltown and Shark Park have also had steady growth.

2018 is currently on track to have better Sydney crowds than was
achieved in both 2016 and 2017.

Turning around six years of shrinking crowds and improving by
such a significant amount is worthy of applause, especially given
the game traditionally always has a drop off in crowds during the
Origin period.

It’s no surprise that the detractors took this precise moment to
strike out at crowds. The NRL has been smart this year by having
the second State of Origin clash on a Sunday, which will lessen the
impact on crowds at club level, however, as mentioned previously, a full time move to
weekends, preferably Saturday for all three Origin games, the
better the club comp and the State of Origin series will be.